The Great Mistake
by stillsearchingforagreatperhaps
Summary: This is my essay from my Lit class on why Gatsby was doomed to die because of his American dream.


Death of a Salesman

Willy Loman, despite all attempts, did not succeed in any of his dreams. His first goal was to make enough money to support his family; his second was for everything he did to be recognized and prasied, along with everyone else around him. Willy wanted to be well-liked, but the way he went about it was wrong. He based everything off of appearances and popularity; especially with Biff on the football team and his good looks. That is another reason why Happy was always trying so hard to please his father; he felt like he became the second son that no one really noticed. Because of Biff's encounter with the Woman, he realized how different Willy's morals were than what Biff originally thought. While Biff recognizes that Willy had a warped value system and chased a dream that was not attainable, Happy seems committed to following in his father's footsteps.

While the play is mainly about Willy, it also underlines Biff's life a lot. Biff, at first, tries to be similar to his father. Willy taught that it was acceptable to steal, and that good looks would get you further in life than working hard. Biff followed these values most of his life; the time when he started to think differently than his father began when he caught Willy and the Woman. Biff was never the same after that; he always argued with his father and never got along with him. He did not want to be like Willy, and because of that he moved around from job to job, never settling down or feeling content. He only wanted to please his father, but he never could and all of the things he did were wrong; nothing was ever right.

The Loman brothers had the typical brother relationship: one was the favorite, and the other left alone and ignored. Happy was always trying to be more like Willy; he thought that if he was, then Wily would notice him more and think of him as an equal to Biff. After all Happy did, though, Willy did not take much notice of him until Biff told Willy Happy and him were going to start a ranch together. Happy never caught the Woman or his father, and he didn't understand what was really going on until after events happened. Happy also did not realize how much Willy wanted his two sons to do well. Since Willy was not very good at expressing emotions, Happy thought Willy did not care about him and did whatever it took for Willy to notice him.

Linda was a caring and loving wife; she also was another factor that drove Willy over the edge. Linda always encouraged him, supported him, and helped him when he was down. But because of her constantly saying everything ran smoothly, or Willy had done a great job, Willy kept on believing that he really was successful. When the truth came crashing down around Willy, he found himself in over his head in the pile of lies he had created. Willy thought he did great business and that he had many friends; he thought that Biff had just flunked out of math because he did not try; he thought that sometimes things were great, but then the next second things were not; last but not least, he thought that everything was great because Linda was always telling him so.

Willy Loman had many dreams; to be rich, liked, successful; he ended up being poor, barely known, and as down in the depths of despair as anyone could be. No one really thought of how something affected him until it already happened. No one really noticed what was really wrong with him until he died because of it. Willy was detached from reality; nothing was present or past anymore, all events were combined. His mental unstableness further drove him apart from everyone else because he could no longer tell the difference between anything going on at the time and his memories. He became so absorbed in his thoughts he failed to notice the outside world anymore; instead, a combination of the two finally confused him so much he killed himself. Willy killed himself to escape from his reality, but his life lived on with his family, and forever haunted them, as they finally appreciated all he had done or tried to do.


End file.
